I have seen some people on this forum refer to God as a "Loving Father" and others refer to him as a "monster"

Question

Are they even talking about the same God?

Answer 1

Read the old testament and you will see the Monster, but in the new testament he seemed to have taken extacy.

Answer 2

there is a reason that God's followers are said to "fear" God. the more you understand about God the more terrifying he can be.

imagine for a moment that this being actually exists, that he created the physical universe and the laws that govern this world simply by speaking. imagine that he has seen all of the ages pass, that he knows every part of his creation intimately, that he has the hairs on YOUR head counted. now imagine that you have done something that has hurt someone or something that this being loves. his anger is terrible. he is certainly something that his enemies should fear.

but his followers love him. he protects us and comforts us. he leads us to secret paths that no one else knows and teaches us his mysteries. he promises that some day we will live in his house and be a perfected creation. we still disobey him because we are foolish, forgetful, and "stiff-necked" as he likes top say. so we fear him, but we also love him. the relationship is very much like the ideal relationship between a father and his children.

Answer 3

Different people have different views of God. Those who do not believe in him tend to think of him as a revengeful god. But the God of the Bible, is a loving God, a Father who cares for mankind who sent his son for a ransom so that man may come to know him and look forward to a hope of a peaceful life on a parade earth in the not so distant future.

Answer 4

Those who know God as a loving Father are those who are in relationship with Him, having been redeemed by His Son, Jesus Christ. They have had their hearts changed by Him, and have studied His word with the Holy Spirit as their helper. They know Him and His goodness.
Those who refer to Him as monster do not know Him. Many think they can know 'about' Him through their own worldly wisdom, many just repeat what they hear, many others have been hurt and rejected in this world and blame God. But until they have been given a heart to know Him, and have their understanding opened, they can't really know God. The only thing they need to do is sincerely desire to know Him and His will---God will reveal Himself to all who truly seek Him.

Answer 5

Same god but different sides of the coin so to speak. Those who call him a loving father choose only to see the good in god but those who call him a monster see all the other things he is responsible for, biblicaly speaking.

Answer 6

The Hebrews of the time of the Torah were a very warlike people, living in a very violent area. Thus, they had a very cruel and vicious god, who killed people en masse left and right, ordered a number of genocides, and sent a bear to maul children just for making fun of a priest. Their god was created after the type of life they knew.

As a cruel, violent god who made people in his image would make them cruel and violent also. What about with the witch hunts and other mild forms of persecution? Thats right, God was molded, and recreated to fit mans image.

Answer 7

Well, it depends on who He is to you.

In the Bible it declares, "but as many who have received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13).

If you don't know God, then you can't know him as a loving Father. For example. Let's say that a a group of children are talking on the playground. One of the children is going to have a birthday that weekend and had invited all his friends. All but one child can't go to the party. This child cannot go because his father has disciplined him because of something he did that definately deserved punishment. As this child is telling his friends that he can't go, his friends grow mad at his father because he appears to be a mean dad. Does this make the dad a terrible dad? Of course not! The child may not see the reason behind his father's discipline, and his friends definately cannot understand why their father's friend won't let him come to the birthday party. But, because the child's father has the authority, the child has to listen to him. (It's a make-shift alegory, but hopefully you'll get the picture...)
With God, if you don't know Him, then how can you have any opinion about Him? God is God. In Isaiah 55:8-9 it states," 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thought than your thought.' ". For those who do not know God (and there is only one way to be able to know Him), then all they're going to see is some "monster". But even for those who walk and talk with God (all possible because of what Jesus did on the cross for us), it doesn't mean that we have all the answers. We walk by faith and not by sight!

Answer 8

The God of the OT is one of the most twisted creations of the human mind. It represents the worst of a culture that was far more barbaric than almost any culture in modern times, as can easily be seen by the constant stressing of women as inferior, the condoning of slavery, and violence not being looked down upon in many circumstances, often times encouraged.

Anyone who could equate this God with love has never read the book, or was so indoctrinated since birth that they are so far gone they can never be saved.

Answer 9

No obviously not. But I do understand why some have such differing attitudes.
After my Dad died I hated God and told Him so but now that I have taken in "accurate knowledge" I know Him as the Loving Father I lost. 2Tim 2:4
I also know that my Dad will be restored to me in the resurrection. Acts 24:15

Answer 10

God is the loving father to those who perceive Him such.

God is a monster for those who perceive Him that.

He is capable of being anything, that is why we call Him God (to me Krishn). He has unlimited powers and everything is possible with Him. Even impossible doesn't stand a chance with Him.

By the Vedas, He is 'Kartumakartum anyatha kartum samarth", which means that He can do whatever He likes, can undo whatever He likes, and can do the opposite of whatever He likes or doesn't like. Very intriguing personality. No words to discribe His magnanimity or His attributes.

And He is not imaginary!! He is as real as we all are!

Answer 11

They are more less talking about themselves; people have, and always will, project those qualities onto deity that they see in themselves. This is not limited to Christianity, either, it is true of all religions.

Divinity, that elusive quality that is so ill-defined and that so many seek, is, if anything, the great neutralizer, round which human emotion sparks and splinters. The mirror of it forms for us our hopes and aspirations, fears and anxieties.

It, however, remains unchanged, for the most part unaffected, apparently largely uninterested in the day-to-day of human affairs, thus necessitating the human communication with the self that characterizes communion at its highest level.

Perhaps God is the path most easily taken to know oneself.